A Breath Away
by XraeX
Summary: I wish I knew, if only I knew my name. All I know is that I'd layed in the rain, and he saved me...For six years I've waited, but all for nothing, and now, finally.... Finally I'll have my chance to tell her I love her, that I've always loved her. If only
1. Chapter 1

**disclaimer: everything belongs to jk rowling**

**A/N: thanx to lizzie for beta-ing this stoy for me. hope you all like it :)**

**Prologue**

Charlie Weasley stood at the window of Albus Dumbledore's office, watching a large group of Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws as they all took part in a huge snowball fight in the grounds of the school. He could easily make out his younger brother from the crowd; his vivid red hair made him effortlessly distinguishable. Charlie heard the old Headmaster enter the room but didn't turn around.

'I thought it was supposed to happen today, Dumbledore?' Charlie said, not removing his gaze from the student below.

'It will happen Charlie, remember, patience is a virtue.' Dumbledore replied calmly. Charlie could feel his eyes boring into his back, looking right into his soul. He swung around to face Dumbledore.

'I've been patient for six years, Dumbledore! How much longer do you expect me to wait?'

'Oh, not long,' Dumbledore had now joined Charlie at the window. He smiled. 'She's gone.'

* * *

**Chapter 1**

Charlie Weasley shook his head vigorously as he entered the Quidditch changing rooms, splashing droplets of water everywhere. He had been flying for a good hour when the rain had begun. It had only been light at first, hardly bothering him. However, ten minutes later, he had had to concede defeat as he could no longer see where he was flying.

Charlie looked out at the Quidditch pitch in disappointment. It was only six o'clock, but the sky was pitch black and the rain was falling in torrents. A large muddy pool was forming on the ground deep enough to swim in. Charlie had planned on using the time to work out new playing strategies. As no one ever used the pitch in the run-up to Christmas (except maybe Wood, Charlie's Quidditch obsessed keeper), it was the perfect time to fly undisturbed. _So much for that plan, _Charlie though wryly.

Charlie stood watching the rain for a little while longer before finally admitting it wasn't going to stop. Within ten minutes, he had showered and changed and was once again watching the pouring rain, this time with apprehension. Now that he was dry and warm, the outdoors did not look so inviting.

Taking a deep breath and pulling the hood of his coat over his head, Charlie stepped outside and began to run the familiar route back to the castle. Charlie knew the route well, and let his feet guide him while his mind wandered to the comfort and warmth of the brightly lit Gryffindor tower. Perhaps he would sneak down to the kitchens a grab a bite to eat before he went up to the dorms…

Charlie was so preoccupied that he didn't notice the lump lying in the middle of the path. No until, that is, he fell right of top of it.

'Umph!' Charlie grunted as he lay on top of – whatever it was. He pushed himself up off the ground and stared at the lump. He now saw that it was the figure of a girl – around fifteen or sixteen he guessed. It was difficult to make out her features in the darkness, but what he did know was that she was unconscious. He eyes were closed and she was breathing slowly and heavily. Her leg was sticking out at an awkward angle – broken he presumed.

He stood looking at her for a few seconds before he was jolted back to reality by a large crash of thunder from the heavens. He scooped the girl up in his arms: she was colder than ice. He hugged her close and began once again to make his way up to the castle as fast as he could. In around five minutes, Charlie was running through the corridors of Hogwarts and through the doors of the Hospital Wing.

'Mr Weasley, what on earth – what happened?' Madam Pomfrey came rushing out of her office, a large bottle of Blood-Replenishing potion in her hand. She quickly placed the bottle onto a nearby table and rushed over to Charlie. 'Quick, get her onto the bed! What happened to her?'

'I'm not sure,' Charlie panted as he placed the girl onto the bed Madam Pomfrey had allocated. He was till out of breath from running all the way here. 'I was coming back from…from the Quidditch pitch…w-when I fell over…over her. I b-brought her s-straight…to you.'

'Goodness, it's a wonder she's alive, out there for so long – in that rain too!' Madam Pomfrey shook her head as she took the girls temperature and other various things.

'Madam Pomfrey?'

'Yes dear?'

'The thing is…well – who is she?'

Madam Pomfrey stepped back and stared at the girl. 'Actually, I have no idea. I've never seen her before in my life. Are you sure you don't know her?'

'Definitely.'

'Hmm… perhaps you should go fetch the Headmaster.' Charlie nodded and left the room.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, the hospital wing doors opened once again and Professor Albus Dumbledore strode into the room with Charlie just behind him, jogging to keep up with the Headmaster's strides. Dumbledore paused for a moment, his eyes searching the room. He spotted Madam Pomfrey and walked over to the bed.

'Is this her?' he asked, eyes sweeping over the girls body. For a moment Charlie thought he saw a look of surprise in Dumbledore's eyes, but it was gone so fast, he was sure he had imagined it. Charlie noticed Madam Pomfrey had changed the girl into dry clothes. She now looked as though she were merely sleeping.

Madam Pomfrey nodded. 'Do you recognise her?'

'I know she is not a member of this school. Past that, I know no more than anyone else.'

'But she is a witch right?' Charlie asked. 'I mean, she wearing robes and … if she's in the school, she has to be magical, doesn't she?'

'Yes, you're quite right Mr Weasley, but that is all we shall know until she wakes up.'

'She will wake up won't she,' Charlie was beginning to feel responsible for the girl; after all, he had found her.

'Yes Weasley, she'll survive. She'll probably wake up in a few hours but she's extremely likely to develop a fever. But she'll be fine.'

Charlie nodded, relief washing over him.

'So you can return to your common room and come back tomorrow when she is awake.' Madam Pomfrey said.

Charlie opened his mouth to protest, but was cut off by Dumbledore.

'I would prefer it if Charlie stayed here Poppy, as long as Charlie doesn't mind?'

Charlie immediately threw himself into the chair at the side of the bed. Madam Pomfrey huffed but didn't say anything.

'I will be back tomorrow after breakfast to check on her. Goodnight Madam Pomfrey, Charlie,' Dumbledore nodded his head to each of them before sweeping from the room.

'If anything happens, I will be in my office.' Madam Pomfrey said, before also exiting the room, leaving Charlie alone with the sleeping girl.

In the soft candlelight, he could now make out her features. She had long brown hair, which was now dry and slightly bushy. Her complexion was pale and her full lips were a pale pink. She was very slender and looked extremely fragile while she slept. Charlie couldn't help but think how pretty she was. She looked so peaceful, with the candle light flickering, causing shadows to dance across her face.

Charlie had no idea how long he sat just watching her when suddenly her eyes flickered open.

**A/N: so what did you think? let me now and review :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**disclaimer: if you think i own harry potter...get help.**

**a/n: ok here's chapter two. i can't believe i got so many reveiws for one chapter. thanx at the end : )**

**Chapter 2**

Charlie didn't say a word as the girl opened her eyes. For a few seconds she didn't move a muscle, but her wide eyes flickered around the room, taking in what she could see of her surroundings in the iridescent candlelight. Her chest heaved up and down as her breathing became more rapid. Then, without warning, she shot up, taking a deep, rasping breath, her left hand clutching at her chest as she did so. Her body was visibly shaking and beads of sweat were forming on her forehead and trickling down her cheeks, blending with the tears falling slowly from her eyes. Her hair was sticking out in every direction, giving the impression she had just been hit with a Shocking Jinx.

Charlie shrank back into his chair, as though afraid close contact with her could infect him. He had never seen anyone like this before. How could someone go from being so peaceful to so … wild, in a matter of seconds? Although he was too proud to admit it, at that moment in his life, he was more scared than he ever had been before.

'I-I'll go f-fetch…' he stopped talking when he realised the girl wasn't hearing him. Her head was moving rapidly around the room. Apparently she found what she was looking for when her eyes settled on the red haired male slowly backing away from the bed. Charlie froze when she looked at him. When he tried to move he found his feet were refusing to work properly. So he looked straight back at her but was unable to hold the gaze. There was a look in her eye – he wasn't sure, but for a second it seemed almost – crazed. Suddenly she started rasping again, apparently trying to speak to him. However, whatever she was attempting to say was unintelligible and she merely rambled while waving her hands about in the air. Charlie wasn't sure she was even saying anything at all. She looked as though words were beyond her.

Charlie finally found his feet were working and he turned and bolted into Madam Pomfrey's Office. The nurse was sat at her desk pouring over a piece of parchment, but her head snapped up when Charlie burst through the doors.

'Is she awake Weasley?' Charlie nodded. Madam Pomfrey stood up and stepped out from behind her desk.

'She's – she's crazy!' Charlie could find no other way to describe it. The girl had looked insane. Madam Pomfrey looked slightly taken aback at his word choice but didn't say anything. Instead she walked briskly past Charlie and into the ward.

When Charlie stepped into the ward behind Madam Pomfrey he saw her trying desperately to calm the girl down. She was pushing the girl back into the bed and the girl was trying just as hard to get out. Charlie began to stride over to try and help Madam Pomfrey but she held up her hand to stop him before he had barley taken a step.

'No! I will deal with her. Wait outside. Now!' Charlie knew better than to disobey the matron and quickly exited the room into the corridor.

Charlie leaned against the cool stone wall of the corridor, wondering why he felt so anxious. After all, he didn't even know her name. _It's because you found her, _a small voice in his head told him. _That's all. You'd feel responsible if anything happened because you found her. _He tried as hard as he could to believe the voice, but something in the back of his mind apparently disagreed with logic. For some reason the girl seemed familiar, like the face of an old friend you haven't seen in years. But he was sure the girl wasn't an old friend – but then why did he know her? Every time he had looked at her face he had gotten a weird sense of Deja Vu. He remembered Bill once telling him that Déjà vu was a memory from a past life or something like that. He hadn't really paid attention at the time – load of rubbish in his opinion.

Charlie realised he had been pacing up and down the corridor without knowing it. He paused for a second, attempting to hear what was going on inside the hospital wing. Nothing. He figured there were probably silencing charms all the way around the room to give privacy to patients. He would just have to wait for madam Pomfrey to come fetch him back in.

As it turned out, he didn't have to wait long at all. After a few minutes – which Charlie spent sat on the floor, his back resting against the corridor wall and eyes staring unseeingly at the cracks in the ceiling – the doors of the hospital wing opened and Madam Pomfrey stepped out into the hallway. Charlie pushed himself up off the ground in order to speak to the nurse.

'It was as I suspected, she had developed a fever from being in the rain for so long,' seeing the stricken look on Charlie's face she added with a slight smile. 'Don't worry; she's going to be fine. I have given her a potion that will cure all her symptoms. She is sleeping now and will most likely not wake up until the morning but you may stay with her if you wish.' Charlie nodded and smiled gratefully at the nurse before walking into the hospital wing and settling down next to the girl. Madam Pomfrey went once again to her office, first telling him to come and get her if there was any trouble.

Charlie now felt exhaustion settling in. he lifted his wrist to look at the time on his watch. Two thirty in the morning. Charlie settled back into his seat, trying to get comfy. Finally, fatigue took control and Charlie closed his eyes, welcoming the comfort of sleep.

The remainder of the night passed without event and an extremely sore Charlie woke up at about nine-thirty to see Professor Dumbledore perched on the end of the hospital bed.

_Hospital bed? _It took a few seconds before Charlie recalled all of the previous night's dealings. Flashes of the night before passed through his mind with astounding speed, as though they had had been set to fast-forward; _the rain on the Quidditch pitch…tripping over the lump in the path…carrying a small, unknown girl through the corridors of Hogwarts…the girl waking up...being forced to wait in the corridor…coming back inside and – sleep._

Charlie shifted his position so his gaze was focused on the young girl now sat up in the bed, looking slightly unsure of what was going on. However, she did seem more relaxed than the previous night. Dumbledore's bright blue eyes looked at him as he moved, acknowledging that he was awake, before turning back to the girl, who Charlie now realized had been speaking. She was currently looking at him curiously and Charlie noticed that she had huge chocolate brown eyes, eyes he could easily – _stop it Charlie! Now is not the time, _he berated himself angrily.

'Please, carry on Miss,' Professor Dumbledore's voice brought Charlie out of his reverie. He tore his gaze away from her eyes and turned to face Professor Dumbledore. He noticed the girl had done the same, although she kept sneaking glances at him every now and then.

'There isn't much left to tell.' The girl began. God, he hated calling her 'the girl' … what was her name? 'I can't remember anything. I remember walking down a corridor and … and hearing footsteps. Then everything is just black after that.'

'The corridor you were walking down, can you remember where it was? Was it a corridor in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry?'

The girl frowned, thinking hard. 'I-I…I don't know.' She hung her head, as though she was embarrassed by her forgetfulness. 'I'm sorry.'

'That's quite alright, my dear.' Replied Dumbledore. 'Now until your memory returns, I see no reason why you should stay in here, as there is nothing physically wrong with you.'

'But – my leg' the girl began but was cut off by Madam Pomfrey.

'I can fix that in a second, it's nothing to worry about.'

'Excellent. In that case I see no reason why you can't take part in classes. Only a few of course, but enough to keep you busy.' Dumbledore stood up and looked over at Charlie, who so far hadn't spoken a word. 'Charlie, may I speak with you for a moment please.' Charlie nodded and stood up, frowning slightly. 'Poppy, would you be gracious enough to loan us your office for a few moments?'

'Of course Headmaster,' replied Madam Pomfrey. 'I'll just fix her leg while you're in there.'

Dumbledore led the way into Madam Pomfrey's office. Students very rarely came in here and it was usually if they had an extremely serious injury or illness so Madam Pomfrey could keep a close eye on them.

'Please, take a seat Charlie.' Dumbledore gestured to the chair located in front of the large desk in the center of the room. Charlie slid nervously into the seat. Was he in trouble?

'Now Charlie,' Dumbledore took a seat opposite Charlie and stared straight at him. Charlie fought the urge to look away from his professor's penetrating eyes. 'The young lady out there has lost her short term memory. She was no recollection of who she is or how she came to be here.' Dumbledore paused for a second, allowing Charlie to digest the information. 'Therefore, until either her memory returns or I discover where she is from, I need you to take care of her. She will automatically go into Gryffindor as she appears to have become rather attached to you.' Dumbledore's lips twitched slightly at the look on Charlie's face. 'Get to know her, help her to fit in. However, you must not push her to try and remember. That will happen when she is ready. Do you understand?'

Charlie nodded. His brain was still processing what he had just been told. 'Doesn't she remember anything, sir?'

'Only what you heard when we were in the ward.'

'Do you think she comes here then?'

'She does not attend this school, but she is a witch. Madam Pomfrey found a wand in her robes. It will be returned to her before she leaves the hospital wing.'

'Does she know – that she's a witch I mean?'

'I'm not entirely sure. If she doesn't I think the lessons will help her remember. Now I think its time we gave Madam Pomfrey her room back, don't you Mr. Weasley?'

When they arrived back in the ward it was to see Madam Pomfrey finishing up mending the girl's leg. She glanced across at them.

'Ah good, you're back. You can keep her company until I find her some clothes.' She walked over to them and quietly added, 'It appears she doesn't like to be alone.' Before wandering off to fetch some clothes.

'Well, I must go too,' said Professor Dumbledore. He then spoke to the girl. 'During your stay with us you will be living in the Gryffindor dorms, I'm sure Charlie will show you around and introduce you to his friends. You will also follow Charlie's timetable – you only have to attend as many classes as you feel comfortable with. If you have any problems, you can find me in my office. I'm certain Charlie's brothers know where it is by now.' Dumbledore's eyes twinkled as he said the last sentence and Charlie remembered the countless times his twin brothers had been sent there for misbehavior. 'Good day to you' with a nod of his head Dumbledore left the hospital wing.

For a few minutes after Dumbledore left, there was an awkward silence in the room, interrupted only by the high-pitched chirping of the birds perched in the trees outside the hospital wing window. The girl was staring through the window, out into the grounds, biting her lip slightly. Charlie looked around the room, searching for something – anything – to break the silence. However it was the girl who spoke first.

'Um, the-the headmaster said it was you who saved me last night… thank you,' she looked down slightly as she said the last word, a red tinge colouring her otherwise pale complexion.

'No problem.' Charlie looked up at the girl and saw she was no longer looking out of the window, but down at him. There was a slight frown on her face. 'So, er…you don't remember anything?' Charlie instantly regretted these words. Hadn't the headmaster told him just moments ago that he wasn't to push her?

'Nothing.' The girl didn't seem upset by the question. On the contrary, she seemed to want to talk about it. 'It's really frustrating. It's like it's there, in the back of my mind, but I just can't reach it. I can't even remember my own name, or how old I am.'

'Well I can't tell you what your name is, but I do think your probably around sixteen or seventeen years old.' Charlie offered.

'That's what Professor Dumbledore said while you were asleep. But apart from that, I don't know anything about myself.' Charlie saw tears begin to well up in the girl's eyes and started to wish he'd never brought the topic up. Luckily, at that moment, Madam Pomfrey chose to come back into the room, carrying a large pile of clothes.

'Well, as your clothes aren't dry yet you'll have to make do with these.' Madam Pomfrey said as she walked over to the side of the bed. She noticed the awkward silence in the room and looked first at Charlie, then at the girl, then back again. She didn't say anything about it however, and Charlie was grateful for that. 'Well Weasley, outside while she gets changed.' Madam Pomfrey nodded towards the door and Charlie made a swift exit.

* * *

Ten minutes later Charlie re-entered the room to see the girl sat on the edge of the bed, looking down at the ground. She was wearing a plain white v-neck t-shirt, brown cords and a cream jacket that looked to be several sizes too big. She looked up and smiled when he walked in.

'Hi,' Charlie said. 'Feeling better?' the girl nodded and Charlie realised she was holding something in her hands. 'What's that?' he nodded to where he had seen the glint of silver.

'This? I'm not sure. Madam Pomfrey found it in my robes.' She held up a long silver chain. Hanging on the end of it, was a large silver H, encrusted with blue and pink stones.

'Well, at least we know what letter your name starts with now.' He smiled at her but she obviously didn't understand, as she wore a deep frown. 'When someone has a chain with a letter on, it's usually because it's the first initial of their name.' Charlie explained.

'Oh! So my name begins with a H.' she still looked confused. 'But I still don't remember what my name _is_.'

That's ok. Why don't you just think of a name you like that begins with a H and we'll call you that? I mean you'll have to have a name sooner or later, we can't exactly tell everyone you called The Girl, can we?' she smiled slightly but didn't say anything. 'Well, why don't you think about a name while we walk up to the dorm?'

'Ok' she nodded and stood up. 'Let's go'. She slipped the necklace into the pocket of her coat and picked up a bag that had been lying at her feet. 'More clothes,' she answered Charlie's questioning look.

Charlie led the way through the hallways of Hogwarts, up one flight of stairs after another, occasionally taking a secret passageway that would cut a few minutes off the journey. With every step they took, the girl gazed around in awe. They were on the sixth floor when Charlie realised the girl was no longer with him. He looked around frantically, hoping to god she hadn't gotten lost – it would take him hours to find her, the castle was huge. His heartbeat returned to normal, however, when his eyes finally rested on her. She was stood at the opposite end of the corridor staring at a painting.

Charlie sighed with relief and strode back down the corridor. When he reached her he saw she was looking at a portrait of an old head girl.

When she realised he was next to her, she raised her hand and pointed to the small golden plaque underneath the picture. It was engraved with the name of the head girl and her time at Hogwarts.

_Harmony Atkins_

_Attended Hogwarts 1847 – 1854_

_Only pupil to ever gain head-girlship in her sixth year._

'I like that name,' the girl said. 'I think that's what I'll be called.'

'Harmony?' Charlie asked. 'Ok. Sounds good. Well, er Harmony, lets get going shall we?'

They finally reached the portrait entrance to the Gryffindor common room.

'Holly reef' Charlie said to the Fat lady, the Guardian of Gryffindor. 'Oh that's the password to the common room,' Charlie explained to Harmony. 'It changes very so often but someone'll let you know when it does.'

'Do you just expect me to stand open all day while you finish your conversation?' the Fat Lady's indignant voice interrupted them.

'Sorry,' Charlie said sheepishly, leading Harmony into the Gryffindor common room. The portrait closed behind them, somewhat harder than usual. Charlie made a note to charm her back into a good mood later.

Harmony gasped as she entered the room. Charlie couldn't blame her, her reaction was exactly the same as his was when he had first seen the Gryffindor common room. The room was decorated top to bottom in red and gold. There were plush deep red armchairs all around the room and a large ornate fireplace set into one of the walls. Although the common room should have been empty at this time of day, two girls were sat on the couch in front of the fire and were staring at Charlie and Harmony.

'Hey Charlie,' said Caitlyn Andrews. 'Who's that?' she nodded towards Harmony, who was shifting nervously from one foot to the other.

'Oh, this is um, Harmony, er…Harmony Smith,' Charlie answered. 'She's new here. Will you show her up to the seventh year dorms?'

'Sure,' she jumped off the couch and walked over to Harmony. She glanced down at the bag in Harmony's hands. 'Is this all you have?'

'The school lost her things and that was all Madam Pomfrey had for her.' Charlie answered, thinking fast.

'I'm sure she can answer for herself, Charlie,' Caitlyn cut across him. She turned to Harmony. 'Don't worry about your stuff. We'll help you out, won't we Lori?' she looked over to the girl still sat on the couch.

'What? Oh, yeah,' Lori said, not sounding as though she were particularly bothered.

'Well, let's go then.' Caitlyn took hold of Harmony's arm and began to lead her off to the girl's staircase. 'You coming Lori?'

'No, I'll wait down here,' Lori was looking over towards Charlie and making him feel extremely uncomfortable. He diverted his attention to Harmony.

'I'll meet you back down here when you're ready, ok?' Harmony nodded and followed Caitlyn up the stairs.

As soon as the door of the seventh year dorms could be heard shutting, Lori stood up and stretched, showing off her long, lithe frame. The short top she was wearing rode up a little, exposing a perfectly flat, tanned stomach and a glittering belly bar. Charlie realised he was staring and hastily looked away, feeling his cheeks begin to burn. Lori seemed to notice and a smile played on her face. She began to walk over to him, swinging her hips seductively. She stopped when their bodies were barely a foot apart. Charlie took a slight step backwards.

'What's the matter, Charlie? Scared of me?' she gave a small laugh. 'You certainly weren't scared the other night. As I recall, you were perfectly willing to get close to me.'

'I was drunk that night and you know it,' Charlie retorted, now feeling extremely uncomfortable. 'I don't even remember what happened that night.'

'Would you like me to remind you?' she took a step forwards, closing the space between them. He could feel the heat from her body and his breathing became slightly heavier. She brought her hand up to his face, caressing his cheek. Then she slipped her other hand underneath his shirt, running her fingers across his stomach. She tilted her head up slightly, looking at him with intense blue eyes, her red lips parted slightly in a suggestive way. Charlie found himself leaning forwards towards her lips. Just before they made contact, an alarm bell in the back of Charlie's mind began to ring and he pulled away from her, taking a few steps backwards.

'Lori!'

'What?' she said with a look that would make an angel jealous.

'Despite your delusions, I'm not interested. So go and find someone else to get into bed, 'cause it's not going to be me.'

'We'll see,' Lori smirked and trailed her index finger down the side of his face and then across his lips. Charlie was about to pull away again when Lori abruptly pulled her finger away and walked towards the portrait door. 'Tell Caitlyn I'll meet her in the entrance hall.' Charlie stared at her as she left, watching her short skirt sway as she swung her hips. Despite his best efforts he found his thoughts wandering up the skirt.

Fortunately Harmony and Caitlyn appeared at the bottom of the stairs. Harmony was now wearing school robes that presumably belonged to Caitlyn.

'Where's Lori?' Caitlyn asked, glancing around the room.

'Oh, she said she'll meet you in the entrance hall. Aren't you two going to lessons?' Charlie noted she wasn't wearing uniform either.

'We have this lesson free,' Caitlyn answered. 'Anyway, I'll see you later. Bye Harmony!' Caitlyn bounded out of the room waving to Harmony and Charlie.

'Bye!' Harmony called back. 'I like her,' she said to Charlie.

'Yeah, she's alright I suppose,' Charlie said. 'Give me five minutes and we'll go to lessons. Be back in a bit.'

Charlie ran up to his dorm and changed his clothes as quickly as possible, remembering what Madam Pomfrey had said about her not liking to be alone. He grabbed his book bag and was back in the common room in about five minutes. Harmony was sitting on the couch staring into the fireplace. She looked up when she walked in and smiled at him. Charlie noticed she had a very pretty smile.

'You ready?' Charlie asked. Harmony nodded and stood up.

'What lesson are we going to?'

'It's Care of Magical Creatures now. We better go.' He led the way out of the portrait hole with Harmony just behind him.

**A/N: there you go. the next chapter might be a while cause i'm going away for a week and as you all know HBP comes out so you'll probably be too busy with that anyway. but i might be able to get it up if i can get to a computer while i'm away :D**

**rikuedlover:** your guess about the girl is probably right but as you see, i'm not telling just yet : )

**Anigen:** thanx. hope you like the update.

**AmoreFuget:** thanx hope you like this chappie : )

**Jamie:** thanx : )

**copewithit:** yeah i've read loads with the maurauder era or tom tiddle so i decided i would do something different. the rating probably will go up futher into the story.

**khuu-khuu:** yeah...you like?

**EtrnlSakura: **i love this pairing too! hope you liked this chappie

**HPFreak2gd4u: **yep, thats the basic storyline, with a cuple of twists thrown in of course. t wouldn't be a story without them right : )

**Alanna:** sorry for the cliffie, but sometimes there needed. so are you still hooked?

**Lovelie: **yeah i wanted to do something different and this just popped in this warped brain of mine one night and heres the result!

**katemary77:** thank you blushes

**celi:** thanx : )

**DrAmAQueen333:** thanx i hope yu still love it :D

**Jillie:** thanx :D i wanted to do something completely different and i've definetly never read a fic like this before so here it is. hope ya like this chappie.

**Allovara:** thanx so much :D i glad you like itso much. the thing with punctuation marks inside quotation marks - i am british so you'd think i'd know that, but this is the way i've been taught so you can blame my english teacher for that one : )

**KittyofPiratesSwoop:** thanx. do you like this chappie too? (can you tell i'm hinting for reviews here lol)

**MyEmeraldEyes:** don't worry theres plenty more to come. i hope you enjoy it : )

**hpz26:** thanx. i rlly enjoy writing this soyou don't need to thank me lol

**caboodle:** thanx : ) hope yu liked this chappie.

**RulerOfTheDisenchantedForest:** thanx hope you liked the update too.

**Victoria:** thanx hope you still like it : )

**Avanell:** thanx grins i wanted to do something different and i'm glad everyone seems to like it so much : )

**iluvQUOTES2004:** lol thanx so much i hope you still like it. i have never seen one like this either so i've come to the conclusion that its the only one. YAY!

**fairyprincess11:** heresthe update...you like?

**don't forget to REVIEW! **


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: ok sorry for the long space between updating. Has anyone read HBP yet?I finished it on Sunday andI loved it!I cried at the end andI know i'm not alone lol. Well anyway I'll shut up now andhere's chapter 3 : )**

Charlie and Harmony arrived at the Care of Magical Creatures lesson a few minutes late as Harmony had stopped every so often to stare at certain statues and paintings with a puzzled expression on her face. She had been particularly interested in the statue of the one-eyed, humpbacked witch on the third floor and had stood staring at it for about five minutes and Charlie hadn't wanted to pull her away just incase something jogged her memory.

Therefore, when Charlie and Harmony arrived at the paddock where Care of Magical Creatures took place, all of the other students were already there.

'Nice of you to join us Mr. Weasley, but I believe its ten points from Gryffindor for your tardiness,' Professor Kettleburn said when they approached. 'And who are you?' the teacher placed a piercing stare on Harmony.

'Um, I-I'm Harmony Smith. I'm new here.' Harmony answered, looking at Charlie for help. But before Charlie could say anything, Professor Kettleburn waved his hand dismissively and turned away from the two of them.

'Fine, fine – I just hope you are competent in this subject as I have no intention of recapping the full terms work for you.'

'Yes, sir,' Harmony said meekly, looking quite terrified of the old man.

'Relax, his bark's worse than his bite,' Charlie whispered to her. Harmony smiled gratefully at him.

'Today we will be conducting our lesson in the Forbidden Forest. All of you follow me.' Commanded the elderly professor, heading off towards the edge of the forest. There was a murmur of interest from the class – they rarely went into the forest and it always proved to be an interesting lesson when they did.

Charlie and Harmony joined the back of the group making their way down to the Forbidden Forest. Harmony was eying it nervously.

'Why exactly is it forbidden?' she asked Charlie.

'You sure you want to know?' Charlie asked jokingly. Harmony nodded. 'There's a lot of stuff in there you wouldn't want to meet in a dark alley – or anywhere else for that matter.'

Just then a boy in front of them fell back so that he was walking at the side of Charlie.

'And you'd know all about the stuff in there wouldn't you, Weasley?' Jarrett Nixon said.

'Shove it, Nixon,' Charlie said gruffly to the obnoxious Slytherin. He had stopped trying to be civil to him a long time ago.

'Tut, tut, language Weasley, I was only stating that maybe you spend a little too much time in there for your own good,'

'And since when have you cared about my 'good'?' Charlie retorted.

'I never said I cared, Weasley.' Jarrett replied.

'So why are we having this conversation?' Charlie smirked when Jarrett was unable to make a comeback and sulked back off to his friends.

'Who was that?' Harmony asked, eying him with great dislike.

'Jarrett Nixon,' Charlie said, throwing Nixon a dirty look. 'You'll soon learn that all Slytherins are bastards, but he's the worst.'

By this time, they had entered the forbidden forest and their conversation ended, the whole class came to a halt in the middle of a small clearing.

'Ok class, quiet please. We are beginning the study of a new creature today and I would like you to actually remember some of the things you learn in this hour.'

Just then Hagrid, the Hogwarts groundskeeper, came striding through the trees.

'Sorry fer the delay professor – had ter deal wi' some Bowtruckles.'

'Quite alright Hagrid,' Professor Kettleburn answered the oversized man. Hagrid walked over to the professor and deposited what looked like a cow carcass at the man's feet.

'Would you like me ter call 'em sir?' Hagrid asked.

'Call what?' Charlie heard Jarrett whisper. Charlie had to admit he was very intrigued now – what were they going to see?

'Yes please Hagrid,' the professor answered and Hagrid brought his fingers to his lips and let out three shrill whistles.

'They should be along in a couple o' minutes, sir,' Hagrid said.

'Thank you. That will be all Hagrid.'

'Right y'are professor,' Hagrid said. He was walking out of the clearing but paused for a moment when he reached Charlie. 'Yer in fer a treat t'day Charlie,'

'What's he showing us Hagrid?' he asked eagerly. The groundskeeper was aware of his fascination with animals, particularly dragons.

'Yeh'll see,' he smiled from behind his tangled black beard before setting off once again.

'Ah, here they are,' came Professor Kettleburn's voice. Charlie's eyes scanned the field but he couldn't see a thing.

'What's he talking about?' Charlie whispered to Harmony. She lifted her hand and pointed slightly to the left of professor Kettleburn, yet Charlie couldn't see a thing still.

'Now raise your hand if you can see them,' Kettleburn said. Three people raised their hands, Harmony included. Charlie was getting frustrated now – what were they seeing?

'Ok. For those of you who can't see them, we are currently sharing this field with Thestral's. Now can anyone tell me what a Thestral is?' immediately, the hand of Robert Sullivan, resident Hogwarts know-it-all, shot up into the air, but at the same time there was a sharp intake of breath from Harmony.

'You okay?' Charlie asked concernedly. She nodded, not taking her eyes off Professor Kettleburn and supposedly the Thestrals.

'Yes, Mr. Sullivan?'

'A Thestral is a horse-like winged creature which can only be seen by those –'

'Who have seen death,' Harmony muttered under her breath along with Robert, but only Charlie heard her. Charlie gave her an odd look, but she only shrugged with a wide eyed expression.

'Excellent, Mr. Sullivan, ten points to Ravenclaw,' Kettleburn said and Sullivan gave a smug smile he always got when he got something right (which was very frequently).

The rest of the lesson was spent consuming fact after fact about Thestrals. Towards the end of the lesson, they were permitted to interact with the Thestrals, but Charlie found it unnerving to be touching something he couldn't see. When the bell rang up at the school, the whole class grabbed their bags and headed for lunch, but none of them escaped the clearing quick enough to avoid the two foot essay about Thestrals they were given for homework.

Back up at the castle, most of the school was already sitting down to lunch when Charlie and Harmony entered the Great Hall. Charlie led Harmony over to the Gryffindor table and sat down in the only space on the table, near his brothers Fred and George.

'Hi Charlie,' the twins said together. The two boys wore identical grins, making Charlie suspicious right away. The two boys were identical in everyway, from their Weasley trademark red hair to their freckles, and right down to their mischievous, pain in the backside personalities.

'You two, this is Harmony – she's new here. Harmony, these are my little brothers, Fred and George.'

'Hi,' said Harmony smiling at the twins. Although most people would not have seen, Charlie had known his brothers long enough to be able to read the look that passed between them – they were up to something.

'Hi,' one of the twins (Charlie wasn't sure which) reached over the table to shake Harmony's hand. 'I'm Gred.'

'And I'm Forge,' added the other. Charlie groaned. _And they're off, _he thought. Harmony had a bemused look on her face so Charlie quickly jumped in.

'Just ignore them,' he said turning away from his brothers.

'Gee thanks,' one of them said sarcastically.

'And we thought you cared,' the other said in a mock upset voice. Charlie responded with his middle finger and proceeded to pretend they weren't there.

'So how did you know about the Thestrals in Care of Magical Creatures?' he asked Harmony, grabbing a sandwich from one of the many plates on the table. Harmony did the same before answering.

'I don't know,' she answered finally. 'It just came from nowhere.'

'So you don't remember?' Charlie asked.

'Don't be stupid – how can she remember something she doesn't know?' the twins decided to interrupt again.

'She'd have to have known it to be able to forget it to remember it – idiot.' The other twin said. Charlie groaned once again. Being around his twin brothers always managed to give him a migraine.

'Do you two know how to take a hint by any chance?' he asked them before they could continue their rant.

'Nope,' they answered simultaneously, their face splitting into identical, wicked grins.

'Let me spell it out for you then – go away,' he said very slowly as though he were speaking to a two year old. However, he might as well have spoken to the table for all the response he got out of them. Thankfully, the bell rang just then, signalling the end of lunch.

'Let's go – we have transfiguration.' He stood up, eager to get away from his annoying brothers. But before he and Harmony left, he turned to face the two of them. 'Don't forget about Quidditch practice tonight.'

'Yes sir,' they answered in unison, saluting him. Charlie rolled his eyes and walked away, leaving his brothers to annoy someone else.

'What's Quidditch?' Harmony asked as they walked up the stairs to transfiguration.

'You're kidding, right?' he looked at her incredulously. 'Sorry, I keep forgetting. Quidditch is a sport played on broomsticks. It'll take too long to explain it now; you'd probably get it better if you came to a game.'

'Oi Weasley!' Charlie looked up to see his best friend, Damon Keyes, waving him over. He walked over to him, beckoning Harmony to follow him. Damon was stood with Caitlyn, Lori, Jason Taylor and Shaun Brent, the other two boys in Charlie's year.

'So next Friday, we're having a little early Christmas party – you in?' Damon said

'Seventh years only, your dorm.' Caitlyn added.

'So am I getting a choice?' Charlie asked.

'Not really, just thought we'd be polite.' Shaun said.

'Ok, I'm in.' Charlie said.

'Good, 'cause your sleeping in the common room if your not.' Jason said.

'So you enjoying it here so far Harmony?' Caitlyn asked, drawing attention to Harmony for the first time.

'Yeah, it's, um… interesting.' Harmony answered smiling.

'Its gets better, we promise.' Caitlyn assured her.

'Shouldn't make promises that aren't true, Katie,' Shaun said.

'All right everyone, inside please,' professor McGonagall's voice rang through the crowd. 'That means you lot too.' She nodded in their direction, giving them her trademark no-nonsense look. The seven of them traipsed into the room in single file, Damon in the lead. The group made for the back of the room and took seats at their respective desks. Harmony ended up sat on the end of the row next to Charlie.

'Quiet everyone,' McGonagall swept into the room and the class immediately fell silent. 'Before we begin our lesson, Professor Dumbledore has asked me to introduce a new student to the class. Ms Harmony Smith is a transfer student from Ayers Academy of Witchcraft in Australia.' She gestured to the back of the classroom and everyone turned to look at Harmony. Charlie noticed a blush creep up her neck and tinge her cheeks.

'Ok, now that's done, we will be continuing Monday's lesson on human transfiguration…'

'How did Dumbledore know the name I picked?' Harmony whispered to Charlie as Professor McGonagall launched into an explanation of the dangers of human transfiguration.

'That's the thing about Dumbledore, he knows everything.' Charlie answered.

'Think he knows how to get my memory back?' Harmony smirked.

'Right, everyone into groups of threes – you are going to attempt a simple human transfiguration spell on each other.' Charlie was immediately pulled away with Damon and Jason, leaving Harmony to work with Lori and Caitlyn.

'So how come you get to meet the new girl before the rest of us then?' Damon asked, flicking through his book, reading the instructions idly.

'Dumbledore asked me to show her around since she's on the same timetable as me,' Charlie shrugged. _Well, it_ is_ the truth, just the edited version, _Charlie thought.

'Not fair, how come you get first dibs on all the cute girls?' Jason complained.

'It's a gift,' Charlie replied. 'Now keep still, unless you want me to transfigure something else instead of your hand.' Charlie cocked an eyebrow. The rest of the lesson was spent with the only words spoken being the transfiguration spell and the ocasional string of obscenities when someone got the spell wrong.

At the end of the lesson, the group left the classroom minus Shaun, whose partner had turned his arm into a claw and then realized he didn't know how to turn it back, leaving professor McGonagall to fix it.

'So do you want to come to Quidditch practice with me – you can see what goes on in the game,' Charlie offered Harmony as they walked back to the common room.

'That's ok; I'm going to stay with Caitlyn and Lori tonight.' Harmony answered.

'Oh, ok. Well I'll see you later then; I have to go down to the pitch now.' With that Charlie left for the Quidditch pitch, feeling slightly put out that Harmony wasn't going with him, but not quite understanding why.

A/N: well there you go. did you like it - let me know and review!

**Fantasy-yunit** - i love charlie/mione fluff too! there just isn't enough of it around. thanx for your review : )

**Lovelie** - thanx : )

**iluvQUOTES2004** - lol - yep lori's going to be a big pain in charlie's side when he's getting with mione.

**amrawo** - thanx : ) i haven't either unless it was one where mione goes to tom riddles time.

**celi **- thanx : D

**AmoreFuget** - i'm glad youlike it. i icked that name cos it sounds pretty close to her actual name. there'll be a little mione/charlie action soon - the next couple of chapters maybe : )

**runaway mental patient-** thanx : D

**Porcelain Prayer** - thanx : ) its great writing charlie becauewe hardly know anything about him so it gives you alot of freedom.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: Not Mine.**

**A/N: i'm sorry for taking so long to update, but here it finally is. i'm not very happy with this chappie but i needed a way to finish of her first day, cos i'vetaken four4 chapters. well anyway, i let you read now : )**

That night Harmony sat in the seventh year girl's dorms with Lori, Caitlyn and Gemma – the other girl in their dorms. Harmony, although still trying to get used to her very boisterous new roommates, was enjoying herself immensely. The four of them had spent the last hour and a half customizing the clothes Harmony had been given by Madam Pomfrey. Gemma, it seemed, had a creative streak and planned on owning her own robe shop when she finished at Hogwarts and had been ecstatic at the opportunity to redesign all the clothes that Harmony, Lori and Caitlyn had written off as hopeless, into unique fashion items.

'Wow, these are amazing Gemma!' Harmony had exclaimed while she watched Gemma add various badges and patterns to a plain brown shirt.

'Thanks,' Gemma smiled. 'I wish my parents thought the same.'

'What – they don't like your work?' Harmony asked.

'Oh, they think its great – as long as it's only a hobby.' Gemma had elaborated when she saw Harmony's puzzled look. 'My mum and dad want me to work for the ministry, so they're not exactly happy with my career choice.' Harmony nodded in acknowledgement, although, she had absolutely no idea what the 'ministry' was.

Now they had finished revamping Harmony's clothes, they were all seated on Lori's bed with a large bowl of Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans and a box of cauldron cakes between them. So far the conversation had consisted mostly of anecdotes of the friends' time in Hogwarts, and the various encounters they'd had with other students, teachers and particularly Argus Filch, the caretaker of the school, who apparently had attempted to have the three of them expelled more than once. Now, inevitably, the conversation had turned to boys. Harmony, either having no experience in this area, or simply not being able to remember it (she didn't know which), chose to stay silent, hoping they would simply forget about her until the conversation changed once again. Unfortunately, this didn't happen, and after they had exhausted the issue of Gemma's latest boyfriend – a boy called Hayden Brent, from somewhere called Ravenclaw – who she was planning to break up with because she had a feeling Jason was going to ask her out soon.

'So Harmony,' Caitlyn said, picking up a handful of beans and stuffing them into her mouth. When she had swallowed them, she continued. 'You got a boyfriend in Oz?'

'Um…' Harmony was suddenly struck by a loss of vision and a bright flash of red appeared in her mind. However, it was gone before Harmony had chance to register it had even happened.

'Hellooo,' came Gemma's voice as she waved her hand in front of Harmony's face. 'You with us?' Harmony blinked a few times to clear her vision and was met with Lori, Caitlyn and Gemma staring at her with strange looks.

'What? Oh – um, no, no boyfriend.' Harmony said, shaking her head slightly, a frown on her face.

'Ooohhh, don't worry, we'll find someone for you,' Caitlyn giggled, her eyes lighting up at the thought of playing matchmaker. She turned to Lori and Gemma, a big grin on her face. 'What about that guy from Hufflepuff – what's-his-name, um, Michael Green? He's cute. Or there's Craig Jackson in sixth year – he just split up with his girlfriend. Or –'

'Whoa, chill Katie. She's only been here a day,' said Lori, holding her hand up to stem her friends flow of pointless babbling. 'And she might have already seen someone she likes,' she looked at Harmony questioningly, a small smirk on her face.

Harmony found herself burning red. She was not enjoying all this attention at all. She briefly wondered if her non-amnesic self also hated the spotlight before attempting to stop her new found friends' questioning.

'There are no boys I like,' she said firmly but was met by incredulous looks from Lori, Caitlyn and Gemma. 'Honestly. Ask me again in a week or two and maybe my answer will have changed, but right now there's definitely no one.' The three girls seemed to accept this, or at least they stopped quizzing her and instead began running through a list of all the boys at Hogwarts who, in their opinion, were cute enough to date a seventh year Gryffindor. Harmony tried her best to tune out of the conversation and waited patiently for them to move onto another topic. Finally, although how thankful she was in the end she didn't know, the conversation moved on. Not from boys, as this was obviously their favourite subject, but at least away from Harmony.

'So how's Charlie then Lori?' Caitlyn asked innocently, but even Harmony knew the question was anything but.

'I've no idea what you're talking about Caitlyn,' Lori replied, in a sugary sweet voice identical to her friends. Harmony's interest was reawakened now. Charlie hadn't mentioned anything about dating Lori, or even been near her all day for that matter. _He's only known you a day, what makes you think he has to tell his whole personal life to you? _Harmony chose to ignore the small bubbles rising in her stomach at the thought of him.

'Oh, come on, do I look stupid?' Gemma let out a snort at Caitlyn's comment. 'Don't,' she said in mock warning to Gemma, before turning back to Lori. 'So?'

'I think I'm going to go to bed now, all of you off.' She shoved Caitlyn, who, not expecting it, fell off the bed.

'Oi! There was no need for that,' Caitlyn muttered, rubbing her elbow. Gemma and Harmony took the hint and jumped off the bed, letting Lori climb under the covers.

'Night!' with that Lori shut the curtains of her four poster bed, leaving Caitlyn, Harmony and Gemma staring at the red velvet of the drapes.

Fifteen minutes later and they were all in bed, after much complaining from Caitlyn about not getting an answer out of Lori. Very soon only Harmony was still awake. She lay staring up at the canopy cover her bed, reflecting over her first day at Hogwarts.

In fact, she was beginning to wonder if it really was her first day here. No matter where she went in the castle, Harmony was followed by the growing sense of Déjà Vu. The whole school seemed familiar, but no matter how hard Harmony tried, she couldn't recall ever being here before. Added to the fact that nobody at the school seemed to recognise her, she deduced that it wasn't possible that she had ever been here before.

Harmony's mind drifted to the Care of Magical Creatures lesson. She still couldn't understand how she'd known about the Thestrals. Harmony was also extremely curious why she could see the Thestrals – more to the point, who had she seen die? She had only been unable to remember anything for a day and it was already driving her crazy.

Letting out a long frustrated sigh, Harmony rolled onto her side, and soon fell into a restless sleep.

**A/N:ok i kno its short but what d'ya think? like i said, not too fond of this chappie. let me know what ya think and review :D**

**LemoN-X-DroP** - i'm sorry i took a long time with this too, but i hope ur still readin it :D

**iluvQUOTES2004** - lol, i'm sorry i took so long but its here now : )

**Lee Swain** - she'll start getting her memory back soon - maybe the next couple of chaps : )

**SlytherinPrincess189** - yep its pretty obvious its mione - but she doesn't know that yet : D

**RowanRhys **- i hadn't even realised i put that in - i'll be sure to check stuff like that out in future, i'm sorry if it stopped you reading the rest of the story.

**amrawo** - hhmmm, maybe winks lol.

**Lovelie** - i agree - we need more mione/charlie fluff!

**Paranoid Sarcasm** - ooohhh, i be reading ur charlie story :D i think the twins will have been warned not to say anything, and they aren't stupid so they'll have kept quiet about it, except maybe teasing charlie bout it now and then when no ones around :D i always had tonks at the same age as bill so they have already left :D btw, i love your pen name.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer - not mine.**

**A/N - Ok guys, sorry for the long wait but here's chapter five. You probably guessed by now i don't do quick updates, but i am trying :P Hopefully you'll all be pleased with this chapter :D oh and thanx to my beta lizzie for her much appreciated help on this chappie :D**

A week passed by without Harmony regaining her memory, or in fact, even remembering any details of her life at all. Charlie was beginning to wonder if the damage to her mind would be permanent. Occasionally he would catch her staring absently into space, and when he asked her what was wrong, she would shake her head and mutter something incoherent before returning to her schoolwork.

The students' life at Hogwarts was becoming very hectic lately, but none more so than Harmony's. She had discovered about two days after her first lesson, that all seventh years would be taking their N.E.W.T's, a series of wizarding exams, at the end of the year. Unlike her friends, she had found this news very disturbing, and had taken to studying as often as she could.

All her friends had found her obsessive studying highly amusing, and Charlie couldn't help but tease her, especially when he showed her the schools library for the first time.

He had taken her there to stop her constant complaining that her school books didn't hold enough information to complete her essays. He had dragged her into the library by the arm, ignoring her complaints that he was interrupting her revision time. Of course, the moment she had lain eyes Hogwarts' extensive selection of books, her protests had been quelled.

Fortunately, Charlie had Quidditch practise, therefore he had been saved having to remain in the library with Harmony. The library had been a place he had resiliently avoided as much as possible during his time at Hogwarts. He only ventured there in dire emergencies (whenever Caitlyn refused to let him copy her, in other words).

Charlie returned from the particularly vigorous Quidditch practice to discover Harmony had yet to return to the common room. He took a quick shower and changed out of his Quidditch robes before walking with a slight limp (Fred had "accidentally" whacked him around the shins with his beater bat), down to the library.

It took Charlie quite some time to find Harmony, but finally located her sat at a desk right at the back of the library, hidden behind a ridiculously large pile of books. She failed to notice him though, as her eyes were moving across the pages of her current book with astonishing speed.

'Have you read all these already?' he asked, staring at the titles on the spines of the books. Hogwarts: A History, A Guide to Basic Potions and Quidditch through the Ages were just a few of the tomes residing on the table. Harmony' head popped up from behind her book as she noticed Charlie for the first time.

'Don't be ridiculous,' she snapped, returning to her book. 'Just those ones.' She gestured with her free hand to a smaller, but still rather impressive, pile of books.

'Wow.' Charlie stated. 'Well, are you coming back to the common room? Caitlyn said she'd give you a hand with your potions essay if you want, she's already helping Gemma.'

'I finished it,' Harmony replied, her eyes remaining fixatedly on her book. 'Did it about an hour ago.' Charlie listened in amazement. How had she managed to finish a three and a half foot long essay and still have time to read all those books? Charlie shook his head. _Whoever she really is, I think we've established she's a swot, _Charlie thought.

'Well, are you coming anyway? It's almost nine o'clock and I left you here at about five,' Charlie stood up, wincing slightly at the pain in his muscles. Harmony noticed and asked:

'Rough practice?'

'Got to work hard, we've got a match against Slytherin first weekend after the holidays. So are you coming?'

'No I'm fine, you go, I'll see you later.'

'Harmony,' he groaned. 'Right then, as a prefect, I'm ordering you to your common room. No buts!' he added as Harmony opened her mouth to protest.

'Fine,' she sighed, pushing her chair back. She stood up, and Charlie noticed her eyes slide out of focus. She gave a sharp intake of breath before stumbling forwards, her eyes tightly shut. Charlie lunged forwards and managed to catch her before her head hit the table corner. He lowered her body back into her chair and watched her with a worried expression, wondering if he should fetch Madam Pomfrey. Just then, to Charlie's immense relief, Harmony let out a small groan and her eyes flickered open.

'Harmony, are you ok?' Charlie asked, crouching so that he was at her height.

'W-what?' her face was extremely pale and she looked as though she was about to cry. 'What happened?'

'Well, you, um, fainted.' A frown appeared on Harmony's face for a moment but was soon replaced with a look of surprise. Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open slightly.

'Do you want to go to the hospital wing?'

'No-no. I think I just need to go to bed, that's all.' She attempted to stand up, but Charlie had to grab her arm to stop her from falling once again.

Around twenty minutes later they arrived in the common room, Charlie still helping Harmony to walk. Harmony headed to the girls staircase the moment they stepped into the common room, holding tightly to the handrail running up the wall of the staircase. Charlie watched her go, concern etched on his features. Charlie walked over to the fireplace where Jason was sat, scratching away with his quill, a perplexed look on his face.

'What's up with her?' Jason looked up as Charlie sat down on the couch opposite him.

'I dunno,' Charlie answered. The truth was he had a pretty shrewd idea of what was wrong but he could hardly say to Jason. 'My amnesic friend just got part of her memory back', so instead he settled for 'she went really dizzy in the library and almost fainted, but she said she's fine.'

Harmony was not fine. She had a huge headache, feel queasy and, if her assumption was correct, she had just regained a portion of her memory.

Harmony rolled over onto her back and stared at the deep red canopy of her bed. The curtains were pulled closed around her bed so that she could pretend to be asleep should any of her roommates come in.

Unconsciously, Harmony's hand found its way to the chain around her neck and her fingers wrapped around the tiny 'H'. She hadn't taken the necklace off since she had found it on her first day in the hospital wing. It was the only connection she had to who she really was. Although it hadn't helped her so far, it was nice just to have it with her.

Her mind wandered back to the incident in the library. The force of the memory had literally knocked her off her feet and left her feeling light headed. At first she hadn't understood what she had seen, but once she had had time to think in the cool calmness of her dorm, she mind had slowly made sense of her "vision".

Over the past week, Harmony had experienced flashes of colour and seen fractions of incomprehensible images, but nothing like what had happened in the library.

Harmony closed her eyes, allowing the memory to resurface to the front of her mind once more.

_She crouched amongst the splintered wood and debris that was once a row of toilet cubicles and she watched in terror as something very large and bulky destroyed the rest of the bathroom. That something was a troll. _

_But she noticed the troll was not demolishing the room for no reason, though. Hanging on to the trolls back was a young, bespectacled boy gripping on for dear life. _

'_Harry!' she heard herself shout. The boy was dangerously close to letting go of the troll. The troll lumbered clumsily around the bathroom, spinning in circles, apparently trying to see what was clinging onto its back._

'_Careful Harry!' for the first time she noticed someone else was in the room. Through the clouds of dust created by the troll, she could see a small red-haired boy, looking anxiously at the boy on the troll. _

'_Do something!' Harry yelled as he was almost thrown from the trolls back and hit by its club. She noticed the red haired boy had his wand out, pointing it uncertainly at the troll._

'_Swish and flick!' she found herself calling out to him. He glanced over at her before taking a deep breath and bellowing:_

'_Wingardium leviosa!' the trolls clubs flew out of its hand and hovered above its head for a few seconds. The troll looked around for its club with a clueless expression on its face. Moments later the club fell out of the air and hit the troll n the head with a dull '_thud'. _The troll went cross eyed and staggered around the room, failing its arms about, before falling unceremoniously to the ground. _

_Harry clambered off the trolls back. He walked around its gigantic body until he was standing in front of its head._

'_Urgh, troll bogies,' Somehow his wand had ended up lodged inside the troll's nose and his face held a disgusted look as he pulled it out._

'_You alright, mate?' the dust had now settled a little, and the red haired boy stepped forwards…_

It had ended there. Harmony had opened her eyes and found Charlie's face looking at her with concern. She still didn't know what to make of the vision.

Obviously, at some point in her life she had fought a troll. This was the least of her worries however, she was more concerned with who the two boys who had been with her were.

'Harry,' she muttered to herself. The boy had looked so familiar, yet he still couldn't place him. Judging by the way he had looked, he couldn't have been any older than twelve, probably the same as she was in the "vision". And the other boy, the one with red hair – had that been Charlie? When she had opened her eyes and seen Charlie staring at her, she could have sworn it was the same boy. Yes, his features had matured a little, but there was an uncanny resemblance between the boy in her vision and Charlie.

Harmony stiffened when she heard the door to the dorms open and the hushed voices of Gemma and Caitlyn as they entered the room. The dormitory door shut with a _thud_.

'Sshh, you'll wake her up,' Caitlyn whispered.

'Not if you wake her up first with your… elephant feet,' Gemma retorted, somewhat lamely.

'Well, that was witty and clever of you,' Caitlyn hissed back sarcastically.

'Shut up will you, you'll wake her up,' Gemma said, and Harmony could imagine the confused look on Caitlyn's face as she replied.

'Eh? Uh…whatever.'

'How long do reckon Lori'll be?' Gemma asked. 'I don't wanna be woken up at three in the morning again to hear about her latest conquest.'

'Shouldn't be too long, Charlie didn't look in the mood for flirting.' Harmony felt something tighten in her stomach at the mention of Charlie, or, more precisely, the mention of Lori flirting with Charlie.

'Charlie's never in the mood for flirting anymore, at least not with Lori. Why doesn't she just give up on him already?'

'You know what she's like – always wants what she can't have. Just leave her to it, she'll find someone else eventually. And she's happy enough chasing Charlie for now.'

'Can't say the same for him though. G'night.'

'G'night' Harmony heard their mattresses creak as the two of them climbed in to their beds. She lay awake for a little while longer, listening to the sounds of breathing coming from her two friends, before finally rolling onto her side. She finally fell asleep, only to dream about red headed boys, a dark haired bespectacled boy and trolls.

A/N - so what did you think? let me know and REVIEW!

**amrawo** - lol. i'll remember that. and its not just the word DOOM either, any random word works just as well lolz

**aislin** - thanx :D heres the update, hope ya like.

**Paranoid Sarcasm** - sorry the update wasn't sooner but its here! i read your story and loved it by the way, ur now on ma faves :D

**Lemon-X-DroP**- well, she remembered...kind of! its gonna come back bit by bit i think - it means i can make the story longer lol.

ok guys, just press the blue-ish, purple-ish button there and Review ... please?

v

v

v


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: it wasn't mine in the last 5 chapters so i doubt its mine now.**

**A/N: i'm sooo sorry about the long update, writers blocks in hitting hard at the mo. i think some of you are gonna be mad at me after this chapter, but i promise it won't last long (i hope ; ))**

'Harmony, come on, its Christmas – will you please put the books away?' Caitlyn asked exasperatedly.

'Actually, there's still four days until Christmas, so I can carry on studying all I like.' Harmony didn't remove her eyes from the book she had had her head buried in for the past three hours. And for the past three hours, Gemma, Caitlyn, Charlie, Jason, Lori, Damon and Shaun had been attempting to pry her away from her books. After their final attempt, which had involved Charlie's twin brothers and a large can of Zonkos Xmas Spray, Harmony had retreated to the girls' dorm, brushing confetti and glitter out of her hair and dodging the fairy lights that had been issued from the can.

Unfortunately, hiding in the dorms only resolved the problem for a while. Although Charlie, Damon, Jason and Shaun were unable to come up, the same couldn't be said of Caitlyn, Lori and Gemma. After allowing her fifteen minutes of grace, they had come bounding into the dorm to attempt new ways to take her away from her books.

'Geez Harmony, where your Christmas spirit, child? Anyone would think you were in Slytherin!' Gemma exclaimed, resulting in a disgusted look from Harmony. Since he had read Hogwarts: A History, Harmony knew exactly what a Slytherin was and was not at all pleased with being called one.

'Just because I like to study doesn't make me a – hey!' Caitlyn had taken advantage of Harmony's distraction and grabbed the book away from her, holding it out up in the air, well out of Harmony's reach from her position on her bed. Harmony made to jump up and dive for the book but she had barely climbed off the bed before Lori and Gemma came charging at her yelling:

'Pillow fight!' they were both brandishing overstuffed pillows and gave Harmony no opportunity to protect herself before diving onto her and attacking her with the pillows. Not wanting to miss out on the fun, Caitlyn flung the book in a corner before launching herself at Harmony and grabbing a pillow as well. Harmony managed to free herself from the group and scrambled off the bed, running over to the other side of the room. Lori, Caitlyn and Gemma wasted no time following her shrieking random war cries in between bouts of laughter. However, when Harmony turned around she had holding her own pillow and wearing a huge grin. The three of them paused for a second, eyeing Harmony's pillow.

'Get her!' Lori yelled, and the three of them lunged at Harmony once again. Shrieking, Harmony held her pillow in front of her, a pathetic shield against her three crazy friends. They knocked her to the floor easily and the four of them spent the next ten minutes pummelling each other with the pillows. Finally, exhausted, the four of them lay in a tangled heap, surrounded by feathers – a result of Gemma's over-enthusiasm – and still giggling helplessly.

'We did it!' Caitlyn declared in loud voice, throwing her arms into the air. 'We got her away from her books!' she collapsed into giggles once again.

'Well, now I'm off back to them,' Harmony declared, not about to be beat. She detangled herself from their bodies and stood up.

'Harmony,' the three of them groaned, but Harmony cut them off.

'I really want to finish this book, ok? Please just leave me alone until I do.' She went and sat resolutely on her bed.

'Nah, we don't make deals,' Caitlyn picked up Harmony's book. 'Especially when we have the upper hand.'

'We kindly left you alone to read earlier –' Harmony raised an incredulous eyebrow at this, but Gemma ignored it and carried on. '– but now you're coming with us to have fun.'

'Do you remember what that is, Harmony?' Lori asked and received her answer in the form of a single finger.

'Come on, we're going – and you're coming too. Now.' Caitlyn commanded. Knowing she was defeated, Harmony allowed herself to be pulled from the bed and led towards to door.

'You might want to put this on.' Gemma threw a large black coat at Harmony, but didn't elaborate on her statement.

'Enjoying yourself?' Charlie sat down next to Harmony underneath the large oak tree by the frozen lake.

'Oh, yes sitting out here in the middle of December is just my idea of fun,' she answered sarcastically, whilst staring out at the lake. Charlie smirked; obviously she wasn't an outdoors sort of person. Their attempts to get her to join their snowball fight had failed tragically and she instead opted to sit on the sidelines watching. Knowing that Caitlyn, Gemma and Lori would refuse to allow her back inside and also knowing that none of his other friends were likely to tear themselves away from their battle anytime soon, Charlie took advantage of the opportunity to ask Harmony about the "incident".

'Um, Harmony, the other day in the library…' Charlie could sense Harmony stiffen next to him and he wondered whether he should be asking. Harmony had so far managed to evade him every time he'd tried to bright the subject up, so he decided to press on while she had no means of escape. 'Did you see something, er, from your past?'

Harmony stayed silent, staring out over the lake with a pensive look on her face. Charlie wondered if she was actually going to answer him or if she had even heard him.

'I'm not sure,' she said finally and Charlie could tell she was choosing her words carefully. 'I mean, I think so, but it was really fast and, well hard to see properly.'

'Oh. So, you don't know what you saw?' he asked, feeling slightly disappointed. Over the past few days, he had found himself thinking more and more about Harmony and wishing he knew more about her, which of course, was impossible as she didn't even know much about herself.

'Well, I know I was a lot younger in it and there were other people there,' she offered, but it didn't take a genius to tell there was something she wasn't letting on.

'Ok,' Charlie said, but obviously his disbelief was portrayed in his voice, because Harmony turned to look at him with an unreadable look on her face. However, her tone of voice definitely showed she was annoyed.

'That's what I know, and if you don't want to believe me, fine, but don't pretend you do.'

'I'm sorry, I do believe you, I guess I just expected you to remember more,' Charlie said awkwardly, but apparently he managed to keep his doubt in check this time, as Harmony's face relaxed into a smile.

Neither of them spoke again, but sat in a comfortable silence watching the other five launch snow balls at each other and tackle each other to the ground. In particular, Charlie noted, Jason appeared to be tackling Gemma a little more than necessary – although, Gemma didn't seem to mind so much.

Charlie's eyes wandered towards Harmony and he saw, once again, her face was masked by an unreadable expression. Her face was calm, serene, yet Charlie could see – no, sense – something was…different. The past week that he had known her, she had been happy, bubbly – maybe a little overbearing at times – but, in all, a pleasant person. However, Charlie had noticed a slight change in her since yesterday. A little too quiet and distant for someone who had been so bubbly just two days ago. Charlie realised he was probably reading far too much into her behaviour and pushed it to the back of his mind. If Harmony saw fit to tell him something, she would. Anyway, now was not the time for excessive thinking. He jumped up from his place on the white blanket that was the Hogwarts grounds, making Harmony jump.

'Come on,' Charlie held out his hand, which Harmony stared at with a confused look adorning her features.

'What?' she asked, looking at his hand as though it was covered in boils and hair.

'Well, if you have to be out here you might as well enjoy it,' he gestured to the group behind him who were still attacking each other, although their fight now involved some well aimed banishing charms.

'No thanks, I'll stay here,' she turned to look out at the frozen lake.

'No you won't.' Charlie replied stubbornly and before, she had chance to protest, he had dragged her up by her arms and was pulling her towards the group.

'Charlie stop! No, really Charlie, I don't want to – I much rather –' what Harmony would 'much rather' do, Charlie never found out as the rest of her sentence was lost in her shrieks as Damon and Sean took it upon themselves to pelt a few exceptionally large snowballs towards Harmony.

Three hours later Harmony sat in the seventh year boys' dorms with Lori, Caitlyn, Gemma and Sean and Jason. Charlie and Damon had left about half an hour earlier and had yet to return. They hadn't revealed where they where going or what they going to do once they got there, just promising they would all be grateful for it in the end.

Harmony didn't have to wait much longer however, as the boys returned just then, carrying four bottles containing an amber coloured substance.

'This is all we could get up here without Filch or Percy catching us.' Damon said, dropping the bottles of Fire Whiskey onto one of the beds.

'Bloody brothers of mine – sometimes I wonder how we're related.' Charlie dropped his share of bottles onto the bed, keeping hold of one and unscrewing the lid. He took a long swig. He finally lowered the bottle, a look of happiness spreading across his face. 'Ah, you have no idea how much I needed that.'

'I still don't get how you manage to get all this stuff in here with being caught.' Caitlyn said taking the bottle out of Charlie's hands and taking a generous mouthful herself.

'You can thank Fred and George for that. They know so much about this castle it's almost scary.'

'Well then,' Jason said, grabbing another bottle off the bed and opening it. 'Here's to Fred and George!' with that, he raised the bottle to his lips and downed around half the contents. When he finished, his face bore a look of someone who had just sucked on a lemon. Apparently though, the taste wasn't enough to stop him taking another drink.

'Oh god, he's gonna regret that so much tomorrow.' Gemma said, watching Jason with a look of amusement on her face.

'Gemma dear,' Sean replied. 'We're all going to regret this tomorrow; it wouldn't be a good night if we don't wake up with hangovers the size of Hogsmeade.'

'Well in that case, I won't be one to spoil the fun,' Gemma reached over and pulled the bottle out of Jason's hands, causing him to choke on the sudden intake of air.

'Oi!' Jason spluttered. 'That's mine!'

'Learn to share Jason. Didn't anyone ever teach you manners?' Gemma smiled, thoroughly enjoying this.

Jason looked as though he would very much love to teach Gemma "manners", but for some reason held his tongue, instead opting to take Charlie's bottle away from him and drink that instead

And so the war for who could drink the most in the shortest time began. Harmony was having so much fun she didn't even notice when one of the bottles was passed to her and only realized when she felt the liquid burning the back of her throat as it made its way to her stomach. Apparently her face wore an expression to rival the one Jason had pulled earlier, because she drew Caitlyn's attention.

'You never drunk before Harmony?'

Harmony shook her head, still recovering from the burning sensation in her stomach. Caitlyn laughed at her and patted her back.

'You'll get used to it.'

Of course, as the night wore on, everyone became steadily drunk. Everyone, that is, apart from Harmony, she didn't go quite as "steadily" as the others. Having never drunk before (at least, not to her knowledge), it had taken little more than a glass of fire whiskey to get her drunk.

'Hey, 'armony, you ok?' Sean asked, watching Harmony stumble across the room and sit on Jason's bed, promptly falling onto the floor and bursting into a fit of giggles.

'I'm – hic – fine,' she slurred, pushing her bushy brown hair out of her eyes. 'Pass the fire whiskey please.'

'I think you had enough –'

'Oh don't be a spoilsport Charlie,' Lori interrupted him. 'If she wants to drink more, let her. Here you go Harmony.' she passed the half empty bottle to Harmony, who wasted no time pressing it to her lips and draining most of the liquid out of it.

'Thanks Lori,' she said once she had successfully emptied the bottle. 'You are re-really nice, you know? I really like you, you're a gre-great friend.'

Everyone in the room burst into laughter. After all, it was common knowledge that Lori was not "nice" – unless of course, she was getting something out it. Even Lori cracked a smile.

'Maybe you're right,' Lori said to Charlie. 'Maybe you should stop now Harmony,'

'No, I'm fine,' she said, in a miserable attempt to sound sober. 'I – am – not – drunk. Pass the bottle please.'

'There's none left,' Gemma said disappointedly. 'Who drunk it all?' having spent most of the night flirting continuously with Jason, she had been oblivious to the last ten minutes worth of conversation.

'Harmony,' the rest of them answered simultaneously, causing Harmony to jump at the sudden mention of her name.

'W-what?' she looked at them round eyed, apparently trying to locate who had said her name and received another bout of laughter.

'I'll go get some more,' Charlie said, standing up from his position on the floor and swaying on the spot. He shook his head slightly and left the room, staggering only occasionally.

'Hey Harmony, this time, d'you think you could leave some for us?' Damon asked, trying to drain the last few drops out of one of the bottles.

Harmony didn't answer, she was staring at the wall, her face had turned a sickly colour and she was gagging slightly.

'Oh no, Harmony, no…' Caitlyn warned. 'Go on, bathroom – now!' she pulled Harmony up and pushed her towards to the door.

Harmony stumbled down the stairs, one hand clutching the rail for balance and the other one clasped over her mouth. She rushed across the common room and up the girls staircase, not sure how much longer she could hold it in.

Ten minutes later, she emerged from the girls' bathroom with a burning feeling in her throat and wondering why she hadn't just gone to the boys' bathroom instead. Harmony groaned; she wished the ground _would just stay still_ – who said it could move anyway?

Harmony began her treacherous journey down the girls' dormitory stairs, praying to anyone who was listening that she wouldn't fall. Half way down the stairs, she paused, hearing noises coming from the common room. It sounded like someone (mostly likely two someone's) shuffling around. When she heard something that sounded very much like a moan, Harmony cringed. The last thing she wanted to do was walk down there and catch Gemma and Jason eating each others faces off.

Deciding she was probably too drunk to remember it in the morning anyway, Harmony walked down the rest of the stairs and into the common room.

Harmony's first thoughts were that at least she wasn't in any danger of catching Gemma and Jason "in the act". That was, of course, before, what she was seeing registered in her mind. Then she just felt nauseous again. Lori was pressed up against the far wall, her arms wrapped tightly around Charlie's neck, her lips trapped in Charlie's. One of his hands was running roughly through her hair while the other one made its way down her back.

The two were so involved in each other, they failed to notice Harmony, for which she was grateful. No longer wanting to be in the company of other people, she did an abrupt about turn and retreated back upstairs, a heavy feeling in her stomach which she was almost positive wasn't a result of the alcohol.

**A/N: I heard we're not allowed to answer reviews in chapters anymore, so unless someone tells me otherwise, i won't be answering anymore: ( but keep on reviewing anyway, love readin em :D**


	7. Chapter 7

'Oh my god.' Charlie rolled over, turning his back on the shafts of light that had dared to disrupt his sleep. He felt like someone had banged his head repeatedly against a wall. With the notion of going back to sleep for at least a couple more hours, Charlie lay face down in his pillow and pulled the quilt over his head.

However, obviously the Powers That Be decided that Charlie wasn't going to get his much desired peace anytime soon, for just then the door of the dormitory could be heard opening, and the overly zealous voices of Damon and Shaun ripped through the silence. Hoping they would leave after a few moments, Charlie ignored them and returned to attempting to sleep. Unfortunately for him, they didn't. Finally admitting defeat, Charlie let out a raspy groan and rolled over the edge of his bead, landing on his knees. He remained in this position, allowing his vision to clear.

'Look, it's alive!' Damon's laughter pounded inside his head and he scowled. Slowly, he stood up, swaying slightly as he gained his balance.

'Nice of you to join us,' Shaun smirked.

'Could you be a little quieter please?' Charlie rasped, his throat felling like some one had ground sandpaper against it. 'What time is it?'

'It is –' Shaun brought his arm in front of his face and pulled back his sleeve to reveal his watch. '– half past two.'

'Why didn't you wake me up?'

'Because we value our lives?' Damon offered, resulting in a dirty look from Charlie.

'So, what happened last night?' Charlie asked, sinking back onto his bed.

'That's what we want to know,' the look on Damon's face suggested he already knew something though. 'Last we saw of you, you went to get some more fire whiskey – which we're still waiting for by the way.'

Charlie frowned, apparently he drank a lot last night, because he couldn't remember a thing, but he was beginning to get a very bad feeling in his stomach.

'I need a shower,' somehow, he managed to push himself off his bed and walked slowly towards the bathroom.

In the space of a few minutes he was in the shower, the warm water beating over his body. His mind felt less groggy, but he was still having trouble remembering anything past leaving the dorm last night. By the time he had finished washing, he still didn't have a clue what he'd done. He turned the water to cold and began to rinse the soap off his body. Tilting his head upwards, he let the water stream into his face, running a hand through his auburn hair. His hand stopped half-way through his hair, freezing along with the rest of him.

'Shit.'

Twenty minutes later, Charlie descended into the common room, feeling clean and refreshed, but by no means happy. He had been hesitant to enter the common room, dreading who might be sat in there, but to his surprise only Damon, Shaun and a few second years resided there.

'Where is everyone?' he asked, throwing himself into a large squashy armchair by the roaring fire.

'Well, Lori and Caitlyn got permission to do last minute shopping in Hogsmeade, we don't where Jason and Gemma are but we have a pretty good idea of what they're up to, and we haven't seen Harmony.' Charlie nodded, realizing he never actually cared in the first place, he was just glad none of them were here.

'So, ginge – you remembered anything yet?' Damon might as well have just burst out laughing, because he lacked any skill when it came to concealing his emotions.

'Ha, ha.' Charlie answered sardonically. 'I can't believe I did it.'

'So it's true then?' Shaun asked, a huge grin plastered on his face. 'Now, correct me if I'm wrong – but I definitely remember you saying, "never again" after the last time this happened.'

'I lied – sue me.' Charlie closed his eyes and let his head fall against the back of the chair. 'What should I do?'

'Well, that depends. You can either take advantage of the fact you've got a gorgeous girl throwing herself at your feet, or you can tell her to piss off and leave you alone – at least until the next time you're drunk.' The last comment earned Damon a cushion in the face.

'Well, thanks for the great advice, Damon,' Charlie stared up at the ceiling, watching the tiny fairy lights, which Fred and George had let loose yesterday, flutter around the chandelier hanging in the centre of the room, apparently trying to see how close they could get to the candle flames before they got burnt.

'I'm off to the kitchens – anyone coming?' Charlie stood up and stretched, the pounding in his head intensifying from the movement.

'No thanks, not hungry,' Shaun said, sprawling out across the couch he had occupied for majority of the morning.

'Same here,' Damon added, so Charlie left the common room alone, intent on finding some coffee.

Harmony stood staring out at the frozen lake, no longer really seeing the picturesque scene before her. The trees surrounding the lake moved slightly in the icy breeze which was also blowing harmony's already bushy hair around her face, partly obscuring her vision. A layer of frost coated the grass banks of the lake, giving the impression that the lake was lined with crystals as it reflected the sun.

But, Harmony had been out here since about eight this morning and any beauty the scene held was long since lost on her. Tiredness was slowly starting to creep up on her now, yet she had no desire to return to the common room, or, more to the point, to see Charlie. Or Lori. Especially Lori.

After thinking about it ever since she woke up that morning, Harmony had come to terms with the fact that she liked Charlie. A lot. But, of course, it was pointless since Charlie apparently liked Lori more than her.

Finally turning away from the lake and staring up at Hogwarts castle instead, Harmony frowned and let out a long sigh. Finally realising how cold she was, Harmony pulled her coat tightly around her and reluctantly decided it was time to go back inside. She set off across the grounds, the grass crunching underfoot. Once inside the castle, instead of heading to the common room, she made for what was slowly becoming her sanctuary – although she doubted the library had any books that could help her at the moment.

She was halfway down the second floor corridor when she spotted the last person she wanted to see descending the opposite staircase. It appeared as though Charlie had not seen her yet, and Harmony wondered if it was possible for it to stay that way, if she kept her head down and said nothing.

Unfortunately, this hope was dashed when Charlie raised his head and caught sight of her down the hallway. Harmony felt her stomach turn slightly as she watched him saunter towards her, brushing his auburn hair out of his eyes. Unusually, he didn't smile at her or call out to her, instead sending a sort of awkward grimace her way.

Harmony looked left and right, searching for a way of escape; she had decided to avoid Charlie as much as possible and it seemed Charlie had the same idea. Alas, all the classroom doors were locked and Harmony didn't know of any hidden passages nearby. Harmony took a deep breath, preparing for the awkward conversation of the year.

'Uh, hi,' Harmony started lamely. _Well, don't you sound sophisticated? _Came a small voice from inside her head.

'Hi,' he replied, sounding perfectly calm compared to how high pitched Harmony's voice had been. 'So you didn't go with Lori and Caitlyn to Hogsmeade then?'

_Yeah, 'cause there's nothing I'd rather do than spend time with _your_ girlfriend,_ Harmony thought sarcastically, but all she was capable of actually saying was;

'Um, no, well, I've got all my stuff already, so, I er, decided to stay here.' Then she mentally kicked herself.

'Right, I'll see you later then.' Charlie nodded, and Harmony stood to the side to let him pass, watching him walk away, wishing she could say something (preferably something intelligent) to stop him walking away. He was now descending the steps at the bottom of the corridor and Harmony was still watching him, her stomach beginning to flutter once again.

Yes, avoiding Charlie was definitely her best plan.

A/N -hides behind chair is it ok to come out? -i'm sooooooo sorry for the long wait, i didn't mean for it to take so long. but thank you for being patient with me and not issuing death threats ; ) i'll try and be quicker next time but it usually takes me about a week to write a chapter (a week and a half at most), then i have to wait for a week for my beta to get back to me, so please bear with me :D

as usual, review are appreciatedALOT, even if itsonly a few words :D


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: nope, still not mine.**

**A/N: ok, i know you probably all hate me forever, but in an attempt to redeem myself i have finally posted the eighth chapter. i'm sorry its so uneventful, but writing it has given me some of my inspiriation back, so hopefully the next chapter won't be so far away. anyhoo, without further ado here it is - tada!**

Christmas passed without incident – presents were exchanged, turkey was eaten, Harmony avoided Charlie like the plague and Charlie did likewise to Harmony. Harmony thought she handled it rather well, even when she had to watch Lori and Charlie kiss under the mistletoe, she only gagged a little.

Unfortunately, the tension between Charlie and Harmony didn't go unnoticed by her friends; no matter how discreet Harmony thought she was being. Towards the end of Christmas Day, Harmony was sat in the common room reading a book Caitlyn had given her for Christmas, when Gemma and Caitlyn came though the portrait door, their faces looking very serious. Without a word, they sat in the two armchairs across from Harmony and just stared. Slowly, Harmony closed her book and swung her legs over the edge of the couch so she was sat upright.

'What's wrong?' she asked, concerned.

'We need to talk to you,' Gemma began.

'About Charlie,' Caitlyn concluded. Harmony's heart sank. She should have known they would figure it out, no matter how much Harmony would have liked them to play dumb.

'What about Charlie?' Harmony asked with as much nonchalance as she could muster. Her two friends were obviously not fooled however, and glanced at each other, rolling their eyes.

'Yeah – how stupid do you think we are?' Caitlyn replied. Normally Harmony would have jumped in with a comeback, but she could see Caitlyn wasn't in the mood for it today.

'You like Charlie,' Gemma said bluntly, apparently tired of tip toeing around the point. The room was silent for a few seconds.

'What?' Harmony forced an unusually high pitched laugh and gave the two of them a would-be sceptical look, had it not been for the panic showing in her eyes. 'I like Charlie –' she gave her hideously fake laugh once again. '– don't be stupid! Why wouldn't I like him? Besides, he's with Lori.'

'So?' Caitlyn asked. 'Jason's with Gemma, but that doesn't mean I don't think he's cute.'

'Hands off…' Gemma said in mock warning. 'Anyway, back to you. Why are you in denial about it? We don't care if you like him or not, we're just observing, that's all…'

Harmony took a deep breath. 'Ok, maybe he is…o.k.' her statement was met by her friends' high pitched squeals and two triumphant grins.

'I knew it!' Caitlyn shrieked, bouncing up and down on the couch as she did so. 'I knew you liked him!'

Harmony felt her cheeks burning red from humiliation. She should have known they would react like this. Why, oh why had she told them? The two of them were now chattering excitedly in voices far too high pitched to be normal.

'Alright, calm do- calm-will you shut up?' the two of them ceased their chatter immediately. They weren't used to hearing the normally well mannered Harmony speak like that. Harmony sighed in relief. 'I thought you two weren't bothered, anyway?'

'That was until we knew you liked him,' Gemma answered. 'Well, I mean we already knew you liked him but now we _really_ know, I mean, we heard it from _you_ and –'

'But now,' Caitlyn interrupted, stemming the flow of Gemma's rant. 'When are you going to tell him?'

'What!' Harmony's voice was suddenly as high pitched as Gemma's and Caitlyn's had been moments ago.

'When are you going to tell him?' Caitlyn repeated, this time extremely slowly, as though she were speaking to a two year old.

'Don't be silly Cate,' Gemma said, a solemn look on her face. 'Harmony could never tell him, that'd only be the start of Harmony breaking her vow of celibacy, and we all know what a horror that would be.' She finally cracked a smile, being unable to hold it in any longer, and she and Caitlyn dissolved in giggles. Harmony, suddenly feeling very pissed towards her friends, stood up and walked around the back of the sofa. She picked up her books from the table behind the couch and turned towards the dormitories.

'Wait, harmony,' Gemma called. 'It was only a joke.' Harmony turned back to face them. 'But seriously, are you gonna tell him?' Harmony paused a moment before answering and then shook her head.

'No. there's no point. He's happy with Lori. I'll see you two later.' This time instead of turning to the dormitories, she made for the portrait door. As she climbed out, she heard Gemma call out;

'Happy isn't quite the way I'd put it!' followed quickly by the sound of Caitlyn shushing her.

Harmony sighed; glad to have left Caitlyn and Gemma behind to claim the sanctuary of the silent hallways. When she had left the common room, her first thought had been to head to the library and finish her book. But now, out in the empty corridors, she felt oddly free and had no desire to be locked up once again inside a stuffy library. Instead, she decided now was the time to explore the castle, while it was quiet and empty. It being the Christmas holidays, most of the students had gone home to spend the time with family, and as far as she knew, only the Gryffindor seventh years remained in the castle. Gemma and Caitlyn were, of course, in the common room, most likely still gossiping about her. The boys were down at the Quidditch pitch, trying to make full use of the extra practice time as possible, and Lori – well she had no idea where Lori was and quite frankly, she didn't care, as long as it was no where near her.

Harmony let out an exhausted sigh, which echoed strangely around the empty corridor, surrounding her with hundreds of whispering sighs that slowly faded away, leaving the corridors in silence once more. She was glad to be on her own once more, even more so now that Caitlyn and Gemma knew of her "crush". She despised calling it that, because to her it seemed like much more than that, although try as she might, she just couldn't find another way to describe it. Although in a sense, she was glad to have told them, getting it off her chest had certainly made her feel better, and later, when she was in more of a chatty mood, she would most likely be glad to have someone to talk to about "it".

Harmony suddenly realized that, without her knowing, her feet had brought her to the top of the marble staircase leading down to the entrance hall. She let out a noise of aggravation, she had wanted to explore parts of the castle she hadn't seen before, instead she hadn't ended up at a place she saw everyday. She was just about to turn away and find another route to take, when she spotted a large board which had been erected in the centre of the entrance hall. Curiosity getting the better of her, Harmony, instead began to descend the stairs. It only took a few moments for her to reach the sign and as she read it, her heart sank.

_Taking place January 14th,_

_A ball will be held in the evening to _

_Celebrate our headmaster, Albus Dumbledore's_

_Birthday. _

_Please ensure you have appropriate attire _

_For the occasion._

_Signed, Professor M. McGonagall _

'Great. Just what I need,' Harmony muttered, giving the poster a look of disgust as though the paper was to blame for the ball. Harmony let her head fall backwards and stared at the gigantic crystal chandelier. For a few moments, she managed to think of nothing, she just stared in mild interest at the reflections on the ceiling caused by the tiny crystal droplets reflecting the sunlight. Harmony was just beginning to feel peaceful and calm when a quiet menacing voice came from her left.

'Something interesting up there, Smith?' Professor Snape, the much hated potions teacher, stood watching her, his usual scowl set firmly in place.

'Um, no sir. I was just reading the sign.' Harmony gestured to the board behind her.

'Funny, I was under the impression that the notice was on the ground.' Snape smirked when he got no reply from Harmony. 'I believe it is time you were back in your dormitory Miss Smith, you wouldn't want to be caught out after hours now, would you?' Harmony shook her head and sighed inwardly. Right now she wanted nothing more than to be far, far away from this annoying, greasy haired git. She turned away from him and made for the stairs. Her foot had barely connected with the first step when Snape's voice came from behind her once more.

'Oh, and Smith?' Harmony turned around slowly on the spot until she was facing the professor once more.

'Yes sir?' she answered in the politest voice she could muster.

'Five points from Gryffindor for loitering in the halls.' Harmony felt her face drop. Snape's however, held a satisfied smirk and, satisfied that his job was done; he spun around and made for the entrance to the dungeons, his long black robes streaming out behind him. Harmony gritted her teeth as she watched him leave. Why did he have to be so damn awkward? As far as Snape was concerned, it was a day wasted if he hadn't taken points from at least one Gryffindor student.

Muttering angrily under her breath, Harmony swung around once more and marched up the stairs, intent on carrying on her exploration of the castle. She needed to vent some of her energy and she could hardly do that in the library.

**A/N - go on, review - you know you want to...**


End file.
